Need new,young models to pose nude: JJ School

Nude study is a key part of the curriculum. “Portrait study will help us develop our unique styles. However,the models here have aged and are unsuitable for this kind of study. We do not have much scope to develop our skills in this subject,” said Amol Hirawdekar,final year student of Master of Fine Arts.

Sculpting and painting students study semi-nude figures in their third year and fully nude figures in the fourth and final year.

A student said the lack of enough models had even resulted in third year students skipping nude sketching sessions last year.

Models,for their part,complain about the payment they get. For sitting for seven hours at a stretch,a model is paid between Rs 100 and 150. All models come from slum areas of south Mumbai. Getting younger models will entail higher payment; the state government that decides the honorarium has not yet acted on proposals submitted by the school. “For the past two to three years,the school has been making proposals to the state government to increase the honorarium but to no avail,” said Bondar.

JJ was the first art school in the country to introduce nude study in the syllabus in 1857.